Conventionally, communication parameters when implementing a wireless LAN connection based upon the so-called. IEEE 802.11 standard, such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/i, are large in number and there are many variations of set values. Accordingly, methods for simplifying the setting of communication parameters have been proposed.
In a network in an infrastructure mode having a specific base station, the wireless communication apparatuses constituting the network are managed by the base station. For this reason, the communication parameters for configuring the network are distributed from the base station to the wireless communication apparatuses.
In a network in the ad-hoc mode that does not possess a specific base station, all wireless communication apparatuses are on an equal footing. This necessitates a technique for deciding which wireless communication apparatus will be the source of the communication parameters. Such a technique for deciding the source that provides communication parameters has been proposed (e.g., see the specifications of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2006-309458 and 2006-311138).
However, in a case where WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), etc., which is a wireless LAN encryption standard, has been selected as a security setting for communication parameters, the start-up direction of a key-sharing algorithm must be set as connection authentication processing separate from the direction in which communication parameters are provided.
Accordingly, a problem which remains is that in the case of a network in the ad-hoc mode not having a specific base station in which all wireless communication apparatuses are on an equal footing, which wireless communication apparatus is to execute connection authentication processing must be decided.